Borderlands 3 might not get any new Vault Hunters as DLC

Borderlands had an official gameplay reveal last week, and at the presentation Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford hinted at a few things that may show up as DLC for the game. There will be some “kickass campaign DLC”, and despite earlier comments about there being “no microtransaction-y, free-to-play kind of stuff” it was confirmed that there will be cosmetic items such as “some heads and skins and other things” sold separately.

However, going by comments made over the weekend by Randy Pitchford, there’s one area of DLC that Gearbox may not be considering – new playable Vault Hunter types. While the first Borderlands game did not get additional Vault Hunters in DLC, both Borderlands 2 and the 2K Australia developed The Pre-Sequel did, so it’s a little surprising to hear this be written off already.

While Pitchford didn’t commit that this form of DLC wasn’t going to happen, as Gearbox is still finishing off Borderlands 3, he does say that it’s likely the team will “put our time into expanding what the existing vault hunters can do and how interesting their future growth is instead of adding new ones to start over with.”

He also adds that data they have collected, presumably from the previous games’ DLC, suggests that players would prefer this – and may not actually want new Vault Hunters. A follow-up tweet adds that Pitchford believes “the vast majority of players would benefit from expansion to existing characters ahead of creation of new characters.”

We are focused on the main game for now, but my feelings are that it might be better for us to put our time into expanding what the existing vault hunters can do and how interesting their future growth is instead of adding new ones to start over with. Data seems to support this.

Borderlands 2 introduced Gauge the Mechromancer and Krieg the Psycho as DLC characters, and The Pre-Sequel brought in a digital version of Handsome Jack and Aurelia, sister of Sir Hammerlock – and both siblings will be in Borderlands 3. If the new game sticks to what Randy Pitchford suggests, there will only ever be four Vault Hunters in Borderlands 3 – Amara, Zane, Fl4k and Moze.

Other than this, though, Gearbox and 2K are remaining tight-lipped about what we can truly expect from the Borderlands 3 DLC. We’ll find out more presumably as we approach the game’s September 13 release date – where it’ll be exclusive to Epic Games Store for six months, if you’ve forgotten.